The Perseverance of the Saints

 The concept of perseverance is very important to our Christian faith. When we become a Christian, it is not just a one time prayer. It is a lifelong commitment to Jesus. The word perseverance means to bear up under a load and keep going. Life is a long journey with many struggles. The true Christian will continue to be faithful to the Lord Jesus no matter what comes.

The perseverance of the saints is defined in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 14:12) The perseverance of the saints is to keep the commandments and to keep our faith in Jesus. The key word there is "keep." We always keep obeying and keep believing in all of the ups and downs of life, because we are truly set apart from this world and set apart to Jesus.

Some people think that keeping commandments is just a legalistic way of trying to please the Lord. That is not it, at all. When we come to love the Lord Jesus, we desire to please Him in all we do. Therefore, our obedience to His commands is the way we express our love for Him. When we do the commandments out of love, they are not a drudgery, but a joy. We do them consistently, because He bore it all for us all the way to death on the cross.

Real saints persevere in our faith in Jesus, because that was our initial commitment to Him. We turned from our way, trusted Him to save us because of His death and resurrection, and surrendered to Him as Lord. Therefore, we keep living by faith every day, and we look to Him to guide us all through our lives. We never give up trusting our Lord.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Revelation 17-19.